Leeds United will be looking to emulate Nottingham Forest’s stabilisation in the Premier League this season, following promotion from the Championship last time round.
Back in 2022, Nottingham Forest won promotion from the Championship and they’ve since become a Premier League regular, even finishing in 7th place of the table last season.
Leeds United meanwhile have been in and out of the top flight. Last season though, Daniel Farke’s side stormed the Championship title, finishing the campaign with 100 points and beating Burnley on goal difference to the first place spot.
So far this summer Leeds United have signed 10 new players. But Farke is looking for more attacking additions and one name linked is Dilane Bakwa at Strasbourg.
Dilane Bakwa dribbles the ball in a game for Strasbourg.
Photo by Sathire Kelpa/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Fulham now ahead of Leeds United and Forest in Dilane Bakwa race
Leeds United were first linked with a move for winger Bakwa at the start of August. Since then, Nottingham Forest have had a bid rejected for Bakwa, and the most recent reports revealed that Forest had submitted another £30m bid for Bakwa.
Leeds United’s links have persisted alongside Forest’s attempts to sign the 23-year-old. But journalist Peter Rourke has now revealed on X that Fulham are in ‘advanced talks’ to sign the Frenchman.
It’s certainly a blow for both Forest and Leeds United who seem keen on Bakwa, Leeds in particular who could do with another source of goals after a mixed start to proceedings this season.
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How much do Leeds United have left to spend this summer?
Going into this summer’s transfer window, it was reported that Leeds United had a £150m transfer budget for the window. And after the most recent signing of James Justin who cost Leeds United £10m, the 49ers have now spent more than £100m on new players.
That technically leaves Farke with another £50 million to play with in the final days of the window, but expect the German to want some money to spend in January also. And Leeds are yet to sign any players on loan this summer, so the focus for the final days of the window could well be loan signings.
Anyhow, spending £30m on Bakwa always seemed like a stretch for Leeds United, who have also just signed Noah Okafor recently. The winger cost £18m, and if Farke does sign another attacking player before September 1st, it looks set to be a striker anyway.